View 1; Photo by PD Rearick

Clothes Pit: 7xs XL

2024

The artist’s used T-shirts over a 7 year period, thread, modular wall

7’ x 2’ x 14’

As part of the solo exhibition AndyT’s Urban Vision 2001-2024, curated by Nadja Rottner; Stamelos Gallery Center, Dearborn, MI

View 2; Photo by PD Rearick

“The found object sculpture Clothes Pit: 7xs XL symbolizes the artist’s journey towards fostering a healthier body image: “I was a Kmart Kid, growing as a large child. Wearing oversized shirts was a part of my physical appearance,” he explains. Based on the learned fact that body cells regenerate every seven years, Thompson recycles seven years’ worth of his own T-shirts dating back to his high school years in Kansas City. He creates seven-row sections. Familiar with his mother’s sewing tools, Thompson works with a professional serger, also known as an overlock machine. These machines, common in clothing factories, stitch elastic fabric together while trimming the edges to prevent fraying.”

— Curator Nadja Rottner’s wall label text for Andy T’s Urban Vision

View 3; Photo by PD Rearick

View 1; Photo by PD Rearick

This piece is a re-envisioning of a previous work, 7xs XL, a giant t-shirt made from my old t-shirts that has become too cumbersome to exhibit in most exhibition spaces. Here we are using the modular exhibition title wall which is hollow in the middle with an open top as a giant clothes hamper to site the work. Nadja and I had a strong desire to activate as many different spaces within the gallery to draw attention to some of the utilitarian aspects that audiences are typically encouraged to ignore. The title wall isn’t just a floating concept to receive the audience as they walk in the gallery, it is a functional piece of gallery infrastructure that we are highlighting by hanging work and didactics on the four walls as well as this site-specific work inside and on top of it.

— Andy T

View 4; Photo by PD Rearick